Quartet Members
Tegoshi, Yuya Birthday: November 11, 1987; Birthplace: Kanagawa, Japan; Height: 170cm; Weight: 52kg; Star sign: Scorpio; Blood type: B; Hobbies: Soccer; Most loved thing: Skulls; Religion: Christian; Debut: December 1, 2002; Education: Waseda University School of Human Sciences, Psychology major Extra Classes Taken: 3 years of swimming, 6 years of piano, 8 years of soccer and some calligraphy too; Favorite Color: Soft Pink Favorite Number: 1 ("I aim to be number 1") Weak spot: Horror Movies and Ghost Houses Some singles: Ai Nante (愛なんて), Addict, Lovin U, ごみ箱, Stars, TV Shows Shabake (Fuji TV, 2007) Hyoten 2006 (TV Asahi, 2006) My Boss My Hero (NTV, 2006) Gachi Baka as Utsugi Minoru (TBS, 2006) Gekidan Engimono Ie ga Tooi as Tomiyama Hiroaki (Fuji TV, 2005) Division 1 15 Sai no Blues (Fuji TV, 2005) Movies Nakushita Kioku (2009) Shissou (2005) Tegoshi entered Johnny's Jimusho during December 2002. He participated in various Johnny's Junior activities for eleven months before becoming a member of NEWS in 2003. Before NEWS, he was almost completely unknown to the public. Tegoshi appeared with his band members on Johnny's related television shows, such as The Shōnen Club and Ya-Ya-yah, soon after he entered the entertainment business. Tegoshi quickly gained popularity with his singing and is considered by many fans to be NEWS' best singer. In 2005, Tegoshi landed the lead role in the movie Shisso, becoming the first member to star in a movie. Shisso aka Dead Run (International title) premiered in North America at the 2005 New Montreal FilmFest. He gained more acting roles in various Japanese dramas and continued his activities as a member of NEWS. He also hosted his own radio show, called "Tegoshi Yuya's What a Wonderful Music" from April 2005 to March 2006. During NEWS's hiatus in 2006, he and bandmate Takahisa Masuda formed the duo Tegomass. They released the single "Miso Soup", recorded entirely in English, in Sweden that reached #12 on the Swedish charts. In December 2006, they released the Japanese version of "Miso Soup" in Japan, which reached #1 on the Oricon charts. Even after NEWS' reformation at the end of 2006, Tegomass continued to have activities. In the spring of 2007, Tegomass released the single "Kiss (Kaerimichi no Love Song)" (キッス~帰り道のラブソング~?), which was the theme song for the anime Lovely Complex and debuted at #2 on the Oricon charts. Both "Miso Soup" and "Kiss (Kaerimichi no Love Song)" went on to place #58 and #46 respectively on Oricon's Top 100 singles of 2007. Tegomass also represented the Japanese High School Volleyball Tournament with the song called "Marui Chikara" (マルイチカラ?). Tegoshi Yuya debuted in 2007 as a seiyū for the Japanese release of the American animated film Happy Feet as the voice of Mumble. In July 2007, Tegoshi was given the opportunity to perform a one-man-show called Tegoraji. Then he starred in Fuji TV's drama special called Shabake, as Ichitaro, based on the novel of the same name written by Megumi Hatakenaka (畠中 恵 Hatakenaka Megumi?). In June 2008, Tegomass released their third single "Ai Ai Gasa", the ending theme song for the anime series Neo Angelique Abyss. "Ai Ai Gasa" debuted at #1 on the Oricon charts and placed #64 on the Oricon Top 100 Singles of 2008. Tegoshi also reprised his role as Ichitaro, for the sequel of Shabake called Shabake: Uso Uso. At the end of 2008, director Hans Canosa cast Tegoshi as Mirai for the movie Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, based on the novel of the same name by Gabrielle Zevin. This movie is slated to premiere March 27, 2010 in Japan.During the summer of 2009, Tegoshi focused most of his energy on Tegomass activities. The duo released their single "Tanabata Matsuri" concurrently in Japan and Sweden on July 7 and released their first album the following week in Japan. They also held their first live concert tour in Japan. After the concert tour ended, Tegoshi took part in the musical comedy Dream Boys 2009 alongside fellow Johnny & Associates members Kazuya Kamenashi and Subaru Shibutani at the Imperial Garden Theater in Marunouchi, Tokyo. This was his first time being featured as a major character in this annual stage show. Not only did Tegoshi appear in the stage play, he also acted in a special drama for FujiTV titled Dareka ga Uso wo Tsuiteiru. He played, Sato Takahiro, a host and the son of a salaryman accused of groping a high school girl on a train. Tegoshi also participated on the new variety show called Sōkon. Sōkon is Japan's' first running variety show in history and features Tegoshi with fellow NEWS members, Keiichiro Koyama, Shigeaki Kinto Wan Takahisa Masuda. The show is part of Lawson's green project campaign, where Lawson will plant trees around Japan depending on the number of points the members are awarded as they complete different running missions. At the end of 2009, it was announced that Tegoshi will take on the role of Toyama Yukinojo in the live-action drama adaption Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge based on the manga of the same name. The drama was aired January 15, 2010. Shigeaki, Kato Birthday: July 11, 1987; Birthplace: Osaka, Japan; Height: 175cm; Weight: 62kg; Blood type: A; Hobbies: Writing; Family: Only child Debut: April 17, 1999 (12 yrs old); Education: Graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University; Law Some singles: Thus the Vampire Speaks, Happy Music, カカオ, シャララタンバリン, Dreamcatcher - He can ride a unicycle. - Koyama has a special nickname that he uses only for Shige when he wants to annoy Shige - Shiggy-chan. - He is left-handed. - He got his dog Nana from Yokoo Wataru of Kis-my-Ft2. - He is the self-proclaimed master of Tekken 5 and SNK. He also likes the Final Fantasy Series. - He likes Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park and Green Day. He debuted as a member of NEWS in 2003. Along with other NEWS members, he plays the guitar, composing some of NEWS' songs, including his own solo "Kakao" in 2002, which he composed the lyrics to.Kato went to Aoyama High School and completed law school at Aoyama Gakuin University in 2010. He is an avid writer and writes his J-web entries from the perspective of a fictional cat named Wagahai. This is a parody of the popular book by Natsume Soseki entitled "Wagahai wa Neko de Aru" or "I Am a Cat". Koyama, Keiichiro Birthday: May 1, 1984; Birthplace: Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan; Height: 178cm; Weight: 59kg; Blood type: O; Family: Mother and Older Sister Debut: November 7, 2003; Education: Meiji University Graduate - Oriental History and Asian Studies Languages: Japanese, Korean, English Tattoos: Chest and 'K.K' on his upper right arm (both, temporary) Most Loved Thing: Pet cat, Nyanta Favorite Food: Ramen Strong Point: Keeps everything together and keeps the peace Some singles: Private Hearts, Beautiful Rain, Love Addiction, Uri Sarang, Starry Koyama, born in Sagamihara, Kanagawa as the youngest of two children, is the oldest member of NEWS and is often seen as the mother figure of the group. Before he was in NEWS, he was a member of BAD and J-Support, which was later renamed K.K.Kity, along with fellow NEWS members Hironori Kusano and Shigeaki Kato. As the leader of K.K.Kity, he was often an announcer and this has carried through to NEWS. Despite this, he actually only joined Johnny's Entertainment at the beginning of 2001, when he was 17 years old. Upon entering Johnny's Entertainment on January 21, 2001, Koyama started out with the unit B.A.D. which stands for Beautiful American Dream. His second unit as a junior was B.B.D. which at first stood for Bad Boys Dancing, but was later changed to Best Beat Dancing. In October 2001, he was chosen as a member of Domoto Koichi's project, J Support, alongside fellow NEWS members Hironori Kusano and Shigeaki Kato. It was in this unit that Koyama started out as an announcer for shows such as the Ya-Ya-yah Show, and this has carried through to NEWS, which he joined in September 2003. In 2007, he graduated from Meiji University's Department of History and Geography with a degree in Oriental History. He also occasionally participates in dramas such as guest starring in his fellow bandmate Yamashita Tomohisa's drama Kurosagi. Takahisa Masuda Birthday: July 4, 1986; Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan; Height: 171cm Weight: 58kg Blood type: O; Star Sign: Cancer Family: Older Sister Debut: November 1998 Favorite Food: Gyoza Favorite Color: Yellow Clothes-Style: Baggy clothing Strong Point: faces everything with a smile (in other words always smiling) Some singles: Remedy, Superman, Pumpkin, Akatsuki, PeekaBoo Masuda Takahisa joined Johnny's Entertainment in November 1998. During his junior days, Masuda backdanced for many of his seniors in the agency and participated in many Johnny's junior photoshots. In 2001, he was cast as a middle school student in the 6th season of the highly popular Japanese drama 3-nen B-gumi Kinpachi Sensei. Then, in 2003, he landed the starring role in the drama special Musashi. He also performed with the junior group Kis-My-Ft as the 'M' after Matsumoto Kohei's departure. In late 2003, Masuda became a member of the J-pop group News to promote the Women's World Cup of Volleyball Championships. When News went on hiatus in 2006, he and fellow NEWS member, Tegoshi Yuya, formed the singing group Tegomass. The duo successfully released their single Miso Soup in both Sweden and Japan. Masuda was allowed to farther his acting experience in 2006 by landing various supporting roles in many Japanese dramas. In late 2008, Masuda and the promoters of TU→YU formed a singing group to release the song Soba Ni Iru Yo, which was featured in the product's commercials and released through the Japanese mobile phone network. Masuda landed a role in the drama Rescue, which starts airing in January 2009. He is currently active in the group News as well as the subgroup Tegomass.